The Triwizard Champion
by jupiterlady
Summary: Draco's goal in his last year as a Hogwarts student is to remain as invisible as possible. This, however, seems impossible when he is chosen as Hogwarts champion in the Triwizard Tournament that is being held at Hogwarts once again.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **Harry Potter is owned by J.K. Rowling and the publishers, I'm not making money or infriging copyright.

**Warnings: **Swearing

**Autor's note: **Here it is! The first chapter of "The Triwizard Champion" and I really plan to finish this one. Reviews are always appreciated.

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**Chapter One**

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"Draco Malfoy" He heard McGonagall's voice echoing through the Great Hall. Her voice was perplexed, and his name echoed through of the immensity of the room like a fading memory of a sound. It wasn't happening. He didn't even put his name on that Goblet. Surely he had misheard it. Maybe it was a Maco Drafoy. Or someone else. He didn't put his name.

He closed his eyes as every look in the room turned to him. Surely he would wake up in his dormitory in a few instants, this was surely a nightmare and he had to wake up soon - his head wouldn't play such ridiculous games with his mind for so long. Please _wake up,_ he told himself.

But the hand on his arm was strong and was taking him to the centre of the hall, fuming looks following him and the hand ever so firm making him stand. He didn't know whose hand it was, but he didn't care. He was only standing because of it.

The hand took him in a small room, where he found himself with the other two champions. Ingrid Pavlov, a Durmstrang girl who seemed as though she would rip your skin off with her bare teeth if you got on her wrong side, and Jean Pierre Briand, a Beauxbatons boy who was looking down at them with a very snob smile, the kind of smile he, Draco, used to have. Viktor Krum and Fleur Delacour were there as well. And the hand that was holding him belonged to…

Of course.

Potter.

His grip was still on Draco's arm, not so firm but still _there. _ He looked concerned at McGonagall who was arriving, seeming appalled.

"So, well…" She started, her eyes stuck on Draco. "The three champions will have the help of the previous champions, they will be your mentors. You cannot ask for help from anyone else, and you can meet anytime in this room I have designated for you, so you can practise and research." She was looking to the other champions now, and Draco could have sworn he had never seen her mouth looking so thin.

"Any questions?" She asked.

"Do we really need our… mentors? I'll be just fine without him, really." Said the Durmstrang girl.

"He's an international Quidditch player" Answered the Beauxbatons boy, his eyes wide as he stared at Krum.

"Yes. They will be necessary in one of the tasks, and if I were you, Miss Pavlov, I'd accept any help I could get." The girl roller her eyes. "Now if you excuse me." And she left.

Delacour and Krum left the room alongside with their champions, and they both greeted Potter happily. Draco thought Potter would turn around and leave as well, but his eyes were stuck on Draco's.

"Malfoy" he asked "Did you put your name in that Goblet?"

Draco raised his eyes and instead of meeting a pair of furious green eyes like he thought he would, he found _worrying _eyes. Potter bit his lip and looked uncertain, his brows furrowed. Draco blankly stared at him for a while, and when Potter said "So?" he straightened his shoulders and glared back at him.

"Of course I didn't. I'm not suicidal."

"That's debatable" Potter said, licking his lips. What was this with Potter and his own lips, Draco didn't know. He didn't _want _to know.

"Potter" Draco said, glaring back. This was so easy. He had been going around almost drowning in self-pit and thinking everyone hated him. He had answered people with his head bowed, as if he wasn't worth replying to anything. He stood quiet, distant and feeling worse than everyone but with Potter… he could glare right back at him with the pride he used to have. He felt like they were equals.

Not that they were, of course, because Potter was the great Saviour of the Wizarding World and Draco was a former and a terrible Death Eater. And Potter had actually saved his life, when all Draco did was try to save Potter's life by mumbling.

"Right" he said, with a grin. "I don't believe you put your name in… firstly because the Goblet is sure to choose the bravest and more worthy of this school and, sorry Malfoy, but that's hardly you."

"How nicely put, Potter" Draco snorted.

"And I don't think you'd have done it because I noticed how you are avoiding every kind of attention, you keep your head down all the time and you never say anything other than what's strictly necessary."

"You have been stalking me, Potter?"

"Er…" He looked embarrassed now. Good, you achieved to embarrass him again, Draco, maybe waking up today was worth it, he told himself. "McGonagall asked me to keep an eye on you, you know, because people might give you a hard time and all." He answered, looking at the ceiling.

Draco didn't comment on the fact that Potter would be in the top of the list of people who would want to give Draco a hard time. The truth was, though, that Potter had only been polite and nice to him, no more than he was to everyone else.

"Malfoy?" Potter asked, awry. Damn, he had been drifting away again.

"Sorry, you were saying?" Draco asked, trying to focus again.

"You didn't put your name on that Goblet, and I believe in you. But people won't. And you can't give up on it because it's a Binding magical contract or something."

"Why are you suggesting I would want to give up on it, Potter?"

"Because you said you didn't put your name in… Unless you were lying?"

"I wasn't. I just…" Draco met Potter's eyes again. They were full of doubt, but still, concern. _Stop it_, he thought. "I didn't want you implying I'm a coward again, Potter."

"I see" Potter replied with a small smile, all doubt seemed to be gone from his eyes. Draco almost smiled again but then he remembered that everyone would hate him even _more _after tonight. "What is it? You look worried." Potter asked. His hand now was on Draco's shoulder. Potter was an IDIOT.

"Everyone will hate me even more now" He answered. He didn't know why he was telling the truth. It probably was the effect of Potter's hands and the concerned look, maybe they were enchanted or something. That would explain a lot.

"You'll get through it" Potter said, his hair falling on his eyes. Stupid dark locks falling on stupid glasses that covered stupid green eyes. Concerned green eyes. That was his least favourite shade of green now, he had decided.

"Thanks for the great advice, Potter. You are so good at this." Draco said sarcastically. "Now, don't you have to get back to your fans and slay one more Dark Lord or something?"

Potter removed his hand and rolled his eyes. There was a ghost of a grin on his lips, and Draco didn't want to look at it. He aimed for his eyes instead, but that _green. _He then looked at this stupid spot between Potter's forehead and hairline. That was safe.

"Good night, Malfoy" Potter said, and left.

In the next day, they met at the designated room McGonagall had said. Draco got there earlier because he had nothing else to do and started practising some conjuring spells. He really liked those ones.

He was conjuring some mice when Potter arrived, cheeks flustered and carrying a bag that, by the sound it made when Potter dropped on the table, could only be full of books.

"Hello" He said with a grin.

"Hello, Potter." Draco nodded. "Why did you bring all this stuff? We don't even know what is the first task."

"I was thinking…"

"That's new to me"

"Shut up, Malfoy. Anyway, I was thinking and this Tournament idea is so fucked up."

"Really"

"I mean, we just ended a _war. _How could anyone think of something like this? To me sounds too much like trying to distract people, and that reminds me of Fudge. I still don't know why Kinglsey Shacklebolt didn't accept the offer to be Ministry of Magic, he surely wouldn't let this happen. This Balthazar Burbage bloke, though, sounds a bit like an idiot. Do you know his sister used to teach Muggle Studies here at Hogwarts? But Voldemort killed her…" Draco flinched, but Potter went on with his blabbering. "But I was thinking and I don't think they will go too far from what they had done in the last Tournament. The first task will probably have a beast trying to protect some object you must catch so you'll get a clue for the next one."

"And your idea is… to search for every dangerous beast and find out how to defeat them? That will be very useful when you ran off to be an Auror, but Potter, I don't think how this can be any useful seeing as my plan is just to lay in front of said beast and beg for mercy." Draco responded, sitting and putting his feet on the table.

"How…" Potter started when he, too, sat down. "How did you know I wanted to be an Auror?"

"You, Potter, always miss the point." Draco rolled his eyes. "It's obvious. I don't know what you are doing here, anyway. I'm pretty sure they would offer you an Auror job. Maybe even as the Head of the Department. You could even run for Ministry for Magic and win, for all I know."

"They did offer me an Auror job, but I figured it wouldn't be fair. I didn't study to get there... And besides," He smiled "I wouldn't be here to take care of you, right?"

_Take care of you_, his voice kept echoing everywhere through Draco's mind, _take care of you, _like he was a child, a pet. Anger boiled up inside of him and suddenly he found himself standing up.

"I don't need you to take care of me, Potter" He said "If you are here only to do it, just go _away. _Just leave. Leave me alone."

"Malfoy, what…"

"Everyone in this school treats me like I'm nothing. Like I'm _less _than them, but you, you are the Saviour of them all and with you I just felt…" He held the edges of the table, his knuckles going white and his throat started to burn. He didn't know why he was so livid, but the anger built inside him as though it had been there all the time, he only hadn't noticed it. "Like I wasn't less than you. Like we were _equals. _But no, you are here only to take care of me like I'm a fucking pet. I'm not. Go away, Potter."

Potter stared blankly at him. He wanted to yell at him and throw some stuff, he grabbed Potter's bag and threw it at him, Potter caught it and looked angry at him, the anger he craved for was there and he wanted Potter to yell at him too.

"Why do I even bother with you, Malfoy? Why did I start believing you were a good person, underneath? You are not. I don't know why I give you the time of my day…"

"Oh, really? I'm not asking for your _time, _Potter. For all I care, I don't even like you. You can go back to your adoring fans all at once now, I couldn't care less. Maybe they treat you like you are something else, but I won't. You are Potter, the stupid idiot who refused to take my hand on the first day of school. So _I _don't know why I still bother."

"I didn't take your hand because you were a little shit. I thought you had changed, but you are still one."

"You were too a little shit, now you are an even bigger shit but you just won't _face it. _Your Gryffindors, all of them love when you take care of them. They all love how eager you are to always save them. Well, I don't want any of those things, because I like being my own person. I'm not going to be your adoring fan."

"I'm not asking you to be. I'm just asking you to act like a nice person."

"I'm not a nice person, Potter. I thought you were aware of it."

"I thought I was too."

"But if you want to know, you are not any nicer than me. Always so full of yourself. Thinking that I'd thank you for thinking you need to take care of me. I'm not going to do it, because I don't need you to take care of me. I just want you to treat me like I'm a person, not scum."

Draco could almost hear the words falling out of Potter's mouth _"But you are scum, Malfoy" _and he was pretty sure Potter could hear them too, hanging on his lips, but silence surrounded them like an invisible blanket.

"Fine" the words hanged between them for a while, Draco stared at him, his hands shaking, his neck flustered. Potter glared back at him, his green eyes seemed to be on fire. Draco thought he would step in and punch Draco in the face. Or say something other than fine. Say _anything. _But Potter just left his last word hanging when he turned around and left. The door closed loudly behind him and Draco's knees shook and gave in, he found himself falling on that bloody chair again. He held his face with his hand, and he felt more alone than ever. Like the word "Fine" that echoed through Draco's mind and the path Potter left when he turned around were the only things connecting Draco to the outer world, to the people that weren't him, that weren't feeling everything he was feeling, and they were now gone. He grasped his shoulders, trying to feel something, someone other than him but there was no one beside himself. He was alone. It was only him, just him, and there would never be anyone else.

He didn't know in which moment he rose up and went to bed. He barely slept that night, he felt numb and disconnected. He didn't know why he was still walking, still breathing and feeling. He didn't care about the first task no more, or if people beat him up. He was nothing.

In the next few days, he didn't go to the room. He didn't look anywhere but to his shoes, because if he looked up he would fear and hope at the same time that he would meet Potter's eyes.

It was Friday when a bunch of Gryffindors found him and started beating on him. He would have fought back, but he didn't care. Potter wasn't one of them, but Weasley was there. He didn't touch on Draco, though, but his look was vicious.

They left Draco with a black eye and a bruised lip, and a few bruises on his arms and neck. He didn't know what made him drag himself towards the room, but suddenly he found himself staring at Potter's back.

"What happened?" He turned around, looked concerned again. Draco shouldn't have come.

"It's nothing, Potter. I'm not going to die" Potter sighed out. "At least not now" Draco added.

"Malfoy, seriously"

"They were just a bunch of… Ravenclaws. It's nothing. You should have seen how I left them."

Potter folded his arms.

"Ravenclaws? You think I'd believe that _Ravenclaws _beat you up?" Potter said sarcastically. "With what, _wise words_? Honestly, Malfoy."

"Ravenclaws are smart fighters" Draco shrugged.

"When Ravenclaws fight, they do it verbally. Not _physically. _That's something they would leave for us, Gryffindor troglodytes." Potter raised his eyes and met Draco's expression. "Oh, they were Gryffindors. I see."

"Potter"

"You didn't want to tell me because you thought that I'd feel guilty?" Potter was wearing some stupid puppy eyes expression. No wonder why everyone did what he wanted them to do.

"No" _Yes_. "Because I thought you might join them and finish what they started." _Merlin, that sounded even worse._

"I wouldn't" Potter answered, unfolding his arms. He was so irritating.

"Glad to hear that" Draco replied, trying to sound sarcastic.

"I wanted to show you something" Potter said, his voice small.

"Got a few bruises to show too, Potter? Think we could bond through our pain or something?" Why am I even saying this, Draco wondered. Well, you never got your best lines when your brain yelled at you to quickly think in something offensive. "If's that, well, I don't want to see them."

"Do you have some sort of twisted goal where you have to offend ten different people before every meal?" Potter asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Something of the sorts" Draco shrugged again and swore to himself he wouldn't do that anymore because it _hurt._

"I figured. So, I wanted to show you this" Potter said, showing him his robe, that had a small green badge on it.

It said "Support Draco Malfoy"

He raised his eyes and met Potter's, and he didn't feel numb anymore.

"That was my idea" Draco said, trying not to smile. The last time they saw each other, they were having a row. Why things seemed so nice this time? This wasn't right.

"Does that mean you like them?" Potter asked.

"_Them? _There are more?" Potter grabbed a white box that was full of them and showed them to Draco.

"Do you really think anyone but you will use these things?" Draco raised his eyebrows.

"Well, Malfoy, this is one of the things about being the Great Harry Potter The Chosen One And Saviour Of The Wizarding World, one day I had this green shirt. It was hideous, and had a few holes on it. You know, because it was _old._ So," He shook the box, making a funny noise. "In the next day, I found about thirteen different people wearing shirts with holes. You know, I usually don't care at all about this stuff about being _famous, _I think it's just rubbish." He rolled his eyes. Like Draco believed that. "But I think we could use it in your favour. If I start wearing these badges and supporting you in public, people will do it too."

"People are as fascinated by you as they are afraid." Draco concluded.

"Well, everyone but you" Potter bit his lip.

"Thankfully" Draco replied.

In the next day, Potter wore the badge and by lunch Draco could have sworn he had seen about fifteen people wearing them. By dinner, half of the school had them.

Draco couldn't help but be a little mesmerized at how much people worshipped Potter.

They didn't even know him. They surely didn't know that he got late to things so _often… _Later that day he got late to their meeting.

Draco had been there for almost an hour when Potter burst in, his cheeks red and he seemed angry.

"What is it?" Draco found himself asking.

"Ron…" he mumbled in response. "Is an idiot"

"That's not new to me" Draco replied.

"I suppose" Harry breathed out, panting.

"What did he do?" Draco asked, when he saw that it wasn't very likely that Potter would just go and tell him.

"The usual. He was jealous." He said. "Because I've been supporting you, when he was supposed to be the Hogwarts champion. He put his name in, you see, and maybe he would be chosen if it wasn't…"

"Fucked up. I see."

"Now he's mad at me for wearing that badge"

Draco closed his eyes tightly and tried focusing on Potter again. That was it. Potter would just leave him to his luck now, saying he couldn't abandon his best friend. Draco could even see it, Potter gone and the badge alone on the table. In one week, no one would remember that anymore. And in two weeks, he would die in the first task.

It seemed as a good prospect.

"Are you okay?" Potter asked, noticing Draco's worried gaze.

"Well, Potter, you can leave your badge here on this table and get back to your Weasel. I understand completely." Potter widened his eyes.

"Malfoy" He said. He liked saying it, Draco had noticed, just as much Draco liked saying _Potter. _He only did it, though, because he liked how his voice sounded when he said Potter, his accent so beautiful and his voice so melodic. Potter sounded like he was shrieking when he said _Malfoy. _"Malfoy" he said again to catch Draco's attention. "I'm not going to stop supporting you because of Ron."

"Because you are a stubborn little shit who can't give up even in the most lost causes?"

"Basically" Potter smirked.

In the next Friday, he and Potter were at Charms class practising some really weird non-verbal spells when a Fourth Year Ravenclaw stormed in.

"Professor Flitwick" he said "Professor McGonagall told me to take Mr Potter and Mr Malfoy to go and take some pictures"

All eyes turned to Potter and not to him, thankfully. He once had loved the attention but now he only dreaded it. Mainly because the attention he got was usually bad, when the one Potter got was usually good. So Potter still won.

The other champions and their mentors were still in the room they had chosen to hold all the picture taking, and so were McGonagall, that Beauxbatons headmistress who was probably a hundred feet tall and the Durmstrang Headmaster, who had a smug look on his face. A reporter, thankfully not Rita Skeeter, and a photographer were there too. And the Minister for Magic, other ministry officials and _Ollivander_.

Draco tried not to look into anyone's eyes and this time he let Potter lead him through the room. Someone said something about Weighing of Wands, and Ollivander started looking at the Durmstrang girl's wand.

"Blackthorn and Dragon Heart string. Unyielding. In perfect state. Very well." Ollivander's small voice said. He then proceeded to the Beauxbatons boy.

Draco fetched his wand from his pockets and glanced at Potter, who had been looking at him. He looked at him understandingly and Draco felt a soft, caring brush of Potter's hand on his wrist.

He didn't, though, have time to process what had happened because Ollivander was right in front of him. Draco gave his wand to him, still not daring to look right at him.

"Cherry and Unicorn hair, and little too springy for you, I suppose. What happened to your old wand?" Ollivander asked. Draco raised his eyes.

"It was taken from me" He answered, and Ollivander nodded. He didn't seem to hold any resentment, but Draco took his wand and continued to stare at the floor.

But the person who had taken his wand from him was there by his side, and Draco could have sworn that he had flinched when Draco's old wand had been mentioned. But Potter didn't say anything about it, and Draco decided to do the same. The last time he had tried to get his old wand back he had almost been burned alive.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter, I don't. I wish she would let me borrow him for a day, though, so I could obnoxiously yell how much I adore him.

**Warnings: **Swearing and general silliness. I really don't know what to say in here.

**Author's note: **I know that if you generate Harry's and Draco's chart, they probably don't have these moons but I love astrology and I just created their charts in my head. Who would like to now more is more welcome to message me!

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**Chapter Two**

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Three days before the First Task, Potter showed up with a cut lip. He profusely ignored Draco's inquiring gaze and started unpacking, looking down. Draco had to cough several times until Potter gave up and looked up at him.

"Care to explain?" Draco asked.

"I don't want to worry you" Potter mumbled.

"Who said I'd be worried?" Draco sneered "I might give them a prize"

"You might as well end up like me" Potter answered "It was Ron"

"Weasley? But I thought he was one of the only people who actually liked you." Draco answered.

"You are all mean today, aren't you?" Potter complained.

"Oh, poor little Potter" Draco pouted "People are so _mean _to you all the time, aren't them?"

Potter answered him with a vicious look, and Draco felt satisfied. Annoying Potter was the only thing he felt like he was good at lately.

"So, the Weasel punched you because you are still supporting me?" Draco asked, hesitantly, when they had sat down and Potter was staring blankly at some book.

"Basically" Potter answered, raising his eyes. He seemed miserable. "He's being a dick, but only when Hermione isn't around. But, of course she knows, Hermione knows everything." His eyes fluttered around the room. "Still, it's being tough. It was horrible not talking to him back in fourth year, but now he's being completely _unbearable._"

Potter gave a small sigh and Draco studied him. It was time for him to go and do something for someone else. He hoped it didn't hurt.

In the next day, he waited until Potter arrived in the Great Hall with his Gryffindors, he was still using the "Support Draco Malfoy" badge and Draco couldn't deny how much that had helped him. Even the Gryffindors had stopped threatening him and sometimes people were even nice. But none of them were like Potter, who greeted him warmly in a way he didn't with anyone else. That was why Draco rose up when he caught sight of McGonagall and went straight at her.

"May I help you, Mr. Malfoy?" She raised her eyebrows.

"I wanted to say that I think there are people here who are best suited for the Hogwarts champion thing," He told her, as loudly as he could. He could feel Potter's eyes on his neck, and he forced himself to move on. "I mean, there is Weasley who put his name in the Goblet, and he helped Potter defeating the Dark Lord and all. And he's a Gryffindor." McGonagall narrowed his eyes. "I'm serious, Professor. I'm a bloody coward and I didn't even put my name in. People should have another chance."

He could feel people staring at him. He tried not looking back at anyone, especially Potter, and stared right at McGonagall, who looked taken aback.

"Even though I appreciate your concern, Mr. Malfoy, the Goblet of Fire chose you and that was a Binding Magical Contract. You cannot give your place to anyone else, you were chosen." She answered.

"But…" Draco tried to answer, but he noticed McGonagall's eyes going past him and a warm hand on his wrist. The hand let him go once he turned around, but he was sure it had been Potter's.

It was Weasley, though, who was staring at him.

"Did you mean it?" He muttered. "What you said?"

Draco had a snide remark in the tip of his tongue, but this was Weasley. He had to stare back and tell him the truth. He reminded himself why he was doing it and looked back at Weasley, whose ears were very red.

"Yes" he answered. "I don't want to be Hogwarts champion. You do. You'd be more suited, you are tougher and braver, even though I am better looking and smarter." He couldn't help adding.

Weasley was searching his face for any trace of dishonesty, but he tried to keep his expression blank. He didn't like being honest with people. He didn't like being true to himself, and to everyone else. He liked concealing his every thought and feeling and then replacing it with pretty lies. He loved lying and making up stories, but this time, this time he had to look at Weasley and expect him to accept what he was saying. It was the truth, but Draco wasn't doing it for himself or Weasley. He knew very well why he was doing it, but it didn't make it any easier. It only made it harder.

"Fine" Weasley said. "I believe you" He stretched a hand and Draco stared at it for a while, before shaking it. He felt as though Weasley intended to break all bones in his hand, but he didn't flinch. "But I still think you're a dick"

"Likewise" Draco replied, and Weasley let him go.

Careful not to meet Potter's eyes, Draco went towards the door. He might have heard Potter calling his name, but he refused to look back and just went straight outside.

He took slow breaths of fresh air and decided he couldn't and wouldn't act as if it was such a big deal. He might even convince Potter that he had been lying, just so Weasley would stop being unbearable with him. It was the reason why he had done it, surely, but it wasn't a lie.

Of course that facing the fact that you are a complete coward isn't always easy.

He ran his fingers through his hair, looking at his feet. He heard a cough by his side and hoping and fearing it was Potter, he looked up.

It was a third year Hufflepuff wearing the Support Draco Malfoy badge. She was staring right at him like he wasn't from this world.

"Yes?" He said.

"Er… Professor McGonagall sent me" She squealed. "She wishes to see you in her office"

Afraid of what McGonagall might say to him, Draco went as slowly as he could towards the Headmistress office and said the password the girl had told him.

He had never been in this room when it had been Dumbledore's or Snape's, but he figured it looked pretty much the same.

"Mr Malfoy" McGonagall said, her eyes narrow and studying him carefully.

"Professor" He answered.

"May I ask what was the purpose of that back in the Great Hall?" She asked.

"I don't want to be a champion. Weasley does. I was doing the logical thing." He shrugged.

She sighed.

"I know it's not being easy for you, Malfoy." She looked concerned. Draco didn't answer. They stood quiet for a while until Draco remembered something.

"Professor" He said "can I ask you something?"

"Please do" She answered.

"Did you ask Potter to keep an eye on me?" He bit his lip.

"I'm afraid not." She said, furrowing her brows.

"Are you sure?" He said, trying to contain the hope building in his stomach. "Professor?"

"I am sure, Mr Malfoy."

Draco left the room with a smile.

In the next days, they kept researching about beasts that could be what Draco had to defeat in the First Task. Potter kept insisting that it could be a Chimaera, but Draco had serious doubts.

"They said in Magical Beasts and Where to Find Them that it's a _rare _and _Greek _animal" He told Potter. But Potter kept insisting, what lead Draco to insult him and Potter to insult back. But even though they bickered almost the whole time they spent together, Draco found himself treasuring the moments in which he spent buried in books in the small room with Potter.

"Maybe they'll bring dragons again and repeat all the tasks" Potter concluded, one day before the First Task. "Or maybe I'm wrong and they have three brand new tasks and all of this was a waste of time."

"It wasn't" Draco muttered before he could think twice.

"What?" Potter asked, stretching his legs and yawning.

"I mean, I'm positive that one day we will need to know how to master a Kelpie or the difference between Yeties and white trolls." Draco shrugged.

Potter laughed.

"Well, at least I know that if it is a basilisk, all I have to do is kill it with a _sword." _Draco rolled his eyes at Potter. "Seriously, Potter, do you think anyone believed that at all?"

"Believe what?" Potter blinked his eyes.

"That you killed a basilisk when you were twelve with a sword"

"But that was true" Potter was gaping. "You didn't believe it?"

"It was absurd. You were twelve, it was a basilisk, and nobody even _saw _it"

"When you say it like this it looks absurd, yes, but I did it" Potter's green eyes were pleading. "I didn't have time to think. Tom Riddle had my wand, the basilisk was blind and I had the sword. Anyone would have done it."

Draco's eyes were fixed on Potter's face. He remembered him when he was twelve, small, skinnier and those glasses seemed to take over his face. He couldn't believe a 12 year old Potter had done it. It didn't make sense, because when Draco was 12 he was a little prat and Potter was just… hunting basilisks? It was wrong.

But Potter's eyes were staring at him, like he begged him to believe and Draco couldn't do anything else.

"Well, Potter" Draco said "If that's true, then I'm scared of being in the same room with you"

Potter beamed at him and said "You should be"

If Draco thought better about it, maybe Potter was right. Maybe he should be afraid of being in the same room as Potter.

Because apparently he could predict the future.

It was indeed a Chimaera that Draco had to face in the next day, and Draco could see that Potter was really trying to don't be smug about it and say to Draco "I told you so".

It was terrifying, the chimaera. It had a lion's head, a goat's body and a dragon's tail. And it was huge.

"Listen, champions" The Minister for Magic, Balthazar Burbage, started talking. Draco tried to avoid his eyes as much as he could, but he could see that Potter was staring right at the Minister, his eyes seemed somewhat angry. "You four will all go at once, and you have to catch the clue for the next Task, but you need to catch the right clue. Every clue has the seal of your schools, you have to catch the right clue. And you are forbidden to kill the beast, if you do, you'll lose the task. Don't forget to catch the right clue. Understood?"

Draco was going to ask the minister whether he had to catch the right clue or not, but he agreed with the other champions and then turned his eyes to Potter.

"Potter" He whispered "What in Merlin's name am I going to do?"

"You could… fly" Potter answered.

Draco was going to object but he was suddenly dragged to the field and the Chimaera was there, huge and terrifying and all Draco could do was summon his broomstick and start flying around.

Potter had once told him how easy it was for him to forget about everything when he was flying, but Draco wasn't like that. He liked flying, but everything else was still there. And when people were looking at him funny, because he was doing the same thing their hero had done, he couldn't take his mind out of it. He tried focusing, but his mind kept telling him that he should get down. Stop being such a prat. Lay in front of the Chimaera and expect that someone would drag him off or it would just kill him.

But then he saw Potter's face, with the Support Draco Malfoy badge shining and his face glowing and he decided to go on.

The Beauxbatons boy's robes had been ripped apart by the lion head, and his chest was visible. He didn't seem to bother about the sighing girls, and was holding an annoying smirk on his face.

The Durmstrang girl had a cut on her cheek, caused by the dragon tail. None of them had found their clue, and Draco was getting very optimistic about it when the dragon tail knocked him out of his broom.

Luckily, he wasn't flying very high and the fall didn't hurt much. Well, it did, but he didn't break anything.

His broom was nowhere to be seen and he couldn't find his wand, either. He hid behind a stone and swore to himself, for flying low and for losing his goddamn wand.

Draco Malfoy, you are an idiot, he told himself, hiding his face on his hands. But then he heard a soft _thump _by his side, and there it was. His wand.

But it wasn't his new wand, no, it was his old wand. The one Potter had stolen.

With a half-smile, he picked the wand and went after his clue.

The Durmstrang girl had found it already, the Beauxbatons boy had conjured a harp and was trying to make the Chimaera fall asleep. Draco attempted a small disillusionment charm, wondering how he hadn't thought of that earlier and went looking for his clue.

The clue was an apple.

An _apple. _Draco hadn't seen the other champion's clues, but they would surely look more serious. But his clue was a fruit.

Potter laughed at the apple when he saw it, but then he got serious. Told Draco that it might have something to do with some Muggle Fairy tale and that Draco shouldn't bite the apple.

In the next day, he told Draco that Hermione had said that Draco should bite the apple.

"I thought that was something I shouldn't do" Draco replied, raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah, it could be poisoned like in Snow White, but you'll just faint and your one true love will have to kiss you. Then everything will be just fine." Potter shrugged.

"Fetch me my one true love then, will you?"

"Sure. Who is it?"

"Why do I have to know all the answers? I'm the one risking my life here."

"How would I know who's your one true love…?"

"You wouldn't, because there isn't such a thing. Now shall I bite the apple?"

"No!" Potter yelled at him when the apple was halfway Draco's mouth. "I think it's a bit silly to eat your clue. They wouldn't ask for this."

"Maybe if I eat it, I'll be graced with the knowledge of what the task is about."

"But if it doesn't happen, then you'll have had eaten your clue."

"It's their fault, they shouldn't have put an apple to be my clue. I will eat it." Draco concluded, and Potter rolled his eyes.

"Ridiculous"

Draco was almost biting the apple when he noted a black spot on the red skin.

"It is rotten!" He exclaimed, and Potter came closer to take a look. So close that he could feel Potter's breath on his face, but he wouldn't bother with such things. He wouldn't.

Potter's clumsy fingers traced the black spot on the surface of the apple.

"Give me something sharp" Potter said, furrowing his eyebrows. Draco rolled his eyes and passed him a quill.

Potter carefully placed the tip of the quill in the small hole, and the apple glowed. Words started appearing on the shiny surface of the apple, like they were being carved in. "We will take the one that craves for you the most when the sun next meets the moon" it said, with a craved arrow below the sayings.

"Centaurs" Potter muttered, after a while.

"Are you sure?" Draco inquired.

"Not really, I don't think they'd agree to something like this. Serving the humans, you know, but I can't think of anything else." Potter returned the apple to him.

"But then I don't even need to plan anything, really, I just can go and fetch… whoever it is that misses me the most." Draco shrugged.

"Maybe they will ask you things about planets and stuff, they are a bit mad about it. We might as well do some research." Potter sighed out and got up.

"Leaving me so early?" Draco faked a pout.

"Sorry. I just wanted to spend some time with Ron and Hermione, you know, since this whole Triwizard thing happened I haven't spent much time with them" His tone was apologetic. "I know it isn't your fault. And thanks to you, Ron is behaving like a nice person again, thank Merlin."

"Or thank Draco" Draco muttered.

"Thank Draco" Potter beamed at him, and all Draco could do was wave him goodbye and lie back on his chair. It was understandable that Potter wanted to see his friends. Draco only wished he had any friends he could wish to see.

He decided to go to the library, looking for books about planets and found himself fascinated. He started off with astronomy books, but then proceeded to astrology. It was a fascinating subject, he quickly performed a spell that showed him his natal chart and he started analysing it.

"You know, Potter" he said in the next day "You being a Leo explains too much"

"Come again?" Potter blinked in confusion.

"You think you are so noble and caring, but you are so arrogant and full of yourself. And proud, cocky, smug, bossy. "

"You sound like Trelawney"

"I'll forget you said that. I, in the other side, am a Gemini. Naturally clever, cunning, creative and communicative."

"I see" Potter rolled his eyes.

"But I have Leo rising, you see, that's why I look so fabulous all the time."

"Draco, I really…"

Draco was going to keep insulting Potter based on his chart, but he quickly raised his eyes. Potter had called him by his first name. _Draco. _He took a while savouring the words on his ears, the way that Potter said it, like Draco was annoying but he said it so affectively, in a way that no one had used with him, with the exception of perhaps his mother.

Potter didn't realize what he had done, and Draco shouldn't be over analysing it, but the way his name sounded with Potter's voice, in such a kind, caring way, that of course suggested that Potter was annoyed at him but not enough…

"Geminis also change their mind and mood all the time, are great at lying and making up ridiculous stories and have a tendency to falsely judge everyone" Potter noted, taking a look at one of the books on the table. "Definitely sounds like you"

"Shut up" Draco replied, trying to contain a grin and failing miserably at it.

"Where's my moon?" Potter asked, suddenly, not bothering to look over the book.

"Pisces" Draco answered. Potter made a _Mm _sound, and Draco kept reading about Pluto, but his mind wasn't onto it.

"It makes sense, I guess. Where's _your _moon?" Potter's voice inquired.

"Scorpio. That's why I'm so mysterious, and seductive and…" Draco stopped talking, realizing he had just told Potter he was _seductive. _Not that that should matter. Why did it matter now?

Potter laughed at him and asked him what was the spell that made the natal chart, and Draco answered half-heartedly. He was thankful that this time the second task meant to take the person who missed him the most instead of otherwise, because he was sure that if the centaurs took the person that he would miss the most, it would be Potter.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter, I don't. But maybe, if I think about it, Harry Potter owns me.

**Warnings: **Language, I guess

**Author's note: **Here it is! Firstly, thank you for your reviews. They are always appreciated! And second, that centaur might or not have been based on me. I mean, a centaur, with red hair, saying abstract stuff? It's such a big coincidence. Now I really should go because it's three in the morning and my cat is purring on my elbow and it's like she is begging me to just _go to sleep. _Anyway, I hope you like it!

* * *

**Chapter Three**

* * *

But it _was _Potter who was there, asleep and tied on a tree. He looked like a ghost, the only thing illuminating his face was Draco's wand. He studied Potter's features for a bit while he slept, but then he was interrupted by a centaur.

"Good evening" said the centaur. Draco turned his eyes to the centaur and saw it was female, with long and uneven red hair.

"Hello" Draco answered "I didn't know that there were girl centaurs"

"What the humans don't know" she replied calmly "Could fill many skies"

"Right" Draco said, wondering if she was offended by it. She, however, was looking at the sky.

"Venus is bright today" She said suddenly "In some other, darker times, Mars used to be bright"

"Right" Draco replied "Mars is the planet of war and Venus is the planet of… love"

"War and love are just words made to try to understand what the universe portraits" Draco looked at her, confused. He had studied astrology for this and now she was telling him that everything was much more abstract? "Humans love feelings, they love naming feelings and they try to gather all the meaning of something as complex as the universe in a single word. This cannot be done. Venus' energy, however, is very similar to what humans dare to call love. But love isn't opposed to war, as Venus' energy is to Mars'. Well, if you think for a bit more, nothing is really opposite to anything. Things always carry something in common, or aren't related at all."

"Centaurs are the symbol of the sign of Sagittarius. The opposite sign to Sagittarius is Gemini" Draco said, struggling to show the centaur that he did _know _something.

"Yes. Only two brains could understand the mind of a centaur. The problem with your human brain is that it seeks knowledge. But us, centaurs, know that knowledge changes as fast as the wind. Wisdom, however, remains the same. So do the stars" She looked him in the eye "Now you, Gemini boy, must rescue your lion on that tree. And know that all his stars are turned to you."

With that enigmatic note, she left.

Draco had no problem on untying Potter from that tree, but when he fell on his arms he realized that it might now be a problem. The centaur lady had left, and Potter wasn't very heavy, but Draco doubted he would be able to carry Potter all the way back.

But that's what he did, or tried to anyway. He dragged Potter around, almost tripped in a lot of roots and decided to ignore the giant spiders passing by.

But damn, Potter was heavy. He was. Draco wasn't built to carry stupid Gryffindors around a forest, he should be walking graciously and having people fainting from all the beauty that he emanated.

He was considering leaving Potter in the middle of the woods when Potter blinked his eyes and woke up.

"Draco" he said, almost falling over "Hey"

"Are you okay?" Draco asked.

"I'm okay now" Harry answered, widening his eyes and looking closer. He looked positively insane.

"Are you sure?" Draco asked

"No" Potter answered, and he got closer and closer and suddenly he couldn't get any closer because he pressed his lips against Draco's, muffling a cry. Draco stood there, his eyes wide, his heart beating faster and faster, as Potter kissed him softly. He didn't seem like he was in his right mind.

Still, Draco couldn't find a reason to stop him. He enjoyed it, closed his eyes and was going to kiss Potter back when a thought struck him. Potter was in some kind of weird effect of the spell that had put him to sleep. He wasn't in his right mind. He really didn't want this. So Draco stopped him.

"Potter" He said, and Potter turned his drunk-like eyes to him "We should get going"

He nodded and they walked through the woods, silently. Never a silence between them had felt so uncomfortable.

As the time passed, Potter seemed to be coming to his right mind. When they were almost reaching the edge of the forest, Potter grabbed his arm and looked at him in the eye.

"Draco" he said sharply "Sorry about that. Back there."

"No problem, Potter" Draco said, hurt. He sort of hoped that Potter had pulled him over to finish what he had started "I know how irresistible I am"

"You are a dick" Potter answered, but beamed. Draco beamed back and tried to forget about it, but his night was filled with dreams about centaurs and Potter's lips.

He missed breakfast in the next day, and went straight to his first class. Herbology with the Ravenclaws, and he couldn't stop noticing how overly nice people were being with him. And this was saying something, because when he missed breakfast he had the tendency to be very, very rude.

But people were nice. Not just polite, but actually nice. Two Ravenclaw girls asked Draco if he wanted to group with them, and even Professor Sprout didn't look at him disapprovingly. He thought that maybe it was the fact that he had been the first place in the second task in the day before.

By lunch, he was feeling so much happier. Even some Slytherins talked to him, but he didn't see Potter anywhere. Neither Weasley nor Granger were in the Great Hall for lunch.

After his last class, he went to the classroom. He didn't think Potter would be there, but he was. When he saw Draco, he blushed, however.

"Oh" He said "I didn't think you'd come"

"Why not?"

"Haven't you seen it?" Potter asked, grabbing something from his bag.

"Seen what?" Draco asked, confused.

"Here" Potter answered, putting the Daily Prophet in the table. And there it was, in the first page. A picture of that stupid kiss, and the headline: "The Boy Who Loved?"

Draco's eyes met Potter's.

"That explains a lot" he shrugged. It was odd, because he really didn't mind. He should mind, but he didn't.

"What?" Potter asked "And aren't you mad?"

"I'm not, Potter" Draco replied sharply "Worst things have been said about me"

Potter smiled shyly.

"And people have been treating me so well today, I thought it was because I won the second task" He added

"Maybe it was?" Potter argued

"Don't be stupid, Potter, of course it wasn't" Draco rolled his eyes "But tell me, what are you going to do?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing" Draco rose his eyebrows and Potter stood silent for a while. "I thought that we could pretend that it is real, you know, if people really are nicer to you"

"Oh" Draco said, careful not to meet Potter's eyes. It was an obvious thing to do, really. He didn't need to worry about people talking shit about him behind his back because they already did that, and if he did what Potter suggested, people would be nicer to him, and that was what mattered now. But, for some reason, that bothered him.

Still, he couldn't say no.

"Great!" Potter said, getting up "We won't have to worry about Yule Ball dates, then"

Draco didn't smile.

"And since the third task is years away" Potter said "I think I'll go meet my friends. I mean, Ron and Ginny wanted to fly for a bit and I really do miss flying"

"Okay" Draco answered, his voice almost trapped inside his throat.

"So you could go and meet your friends too, what do you think?" Potter asked, cheerfully, and Draco agreed.

He watched Potter leave the room, and stared at the door, feeling miserable. Of course that Potter wouldn't have thought that he didn't have any friends to meet.

He sighed, and looked at the books in the table. He loved books, and loved learning, even though he wasn't as insane as Granger about it. But he didn't want to read anything now, he just wanted to… fade away. He felt so lonely.

He was staring numbly at the books when the door opened again. It was Potter.

"I'm sorry" He said "You don't have any friends to meet, do you?"

Draco shook his head, his eyes watering. He didn't want Potter to see it, so he looked down.

"Well, you technically have a friend" Potter continued "You have me"

He was shaking. He didn't know why, but there he was, in an empty classroom, with Potter saying that he was his _friend _and he was shaking. Like an idiot.

He just raised his eyes when Potter stretched his hand out to him. He looked at his hand, now 7 years older than the hand that didn't take his on the first day of school. That sight gave him strength to stop shaking and to take it.

"Come on" Potter said, pulling him towards the door "Let's fly!"

Potter didn't let go of his hand. Actually, when he realized that there were people looking, he even laced their fingers together and gave Draco a warm smile. In that moment, Draco's heart stung a little bit.

They played in pairs. Weasleys against Potter and Draco. Granger decided to stay on the ground, with her books, but was very supportive.

When they stopped playing, with Potter and him winning 5 of the 7 matches they played, it was way past curfew. Potter then said that he would take Draco back to the Slytherin common room and grabbed his hand again. Both Weasleys flinched and Granger got a weird look on her face, but no one said anything.

"You know" Draco said in the way to the Slytherin dormitory "We really do fly well together"

"Yeah, maybe if we weren't against each other for so long, things could have been easier" Potter replied, and Draco was going to say that they would always play against each other because they were from different houses, but then he realized that Potter wasn't really talking about Quidditch.

When they arrived at the door of the dormitory, Potter let go of his hand and they stared at each other for a while.

"Good night, Potter" Draco said, finally.

"You know, if we are going to pretend to date, the least you could do is call me by my first name" Potter whispered in his ear and gave him a small kiss because there were some people passing by.

Draco didn't reply, but Potter left with a smile anyway. Draco, however, couldn't smile back.

Because, in that moment, he understood what was wrong. He didn't want to pretend. He wanted it to be real.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling does. But I like to borrow Harry and Draco once in a while and make they love each other (like she didn't do that already, RIGHT?)

**Warnings: **Bad language?

**Author's note: **Sorry for taking so long! I have no reasonable excuses other than a ridiculous writer block, I was writing such a dramatic scene for Draco but I thought that he is already dramatic enough. I had then to rewrite the whole thing. Anyway, this one is a bit longer than the last one, I hope this makes up for how long it took me to post this. I hope you like it!

* * *

**Chapter Four**

* * *

In the next day, Potter invited him to sit in the Gryffindor table with him. He was going to refuse because he didn't want to lose all the small dignity he had left but then Potter winked at him and he remembered. Of course. He had no dignity left anymore because apparently he was now Harry Potter's boyfriend.

So he went to sit down with Weasley and Granger, who were being a completely annoying couple. Draco took a deep sigh and looked over at Potter, who was looking very satisfied.

Then a blonde girl sat at his side. Lavender Brown, the most obnoxious person he had ever met.

"Aren't they _cute_?" She squealed. "I mean, I used to get very annoyed at them because I did date Ron, but breaking up with him was definitely for the best"

Draco had heard that he was the one who broke up with her, but he was in no place to contradict her.

"I wonder if he invited Hermione to the ball yet?" She continued, barely noticing the fact that no one was paying attention to her "He can be so romantic"

Draco had serious doubts about that but before he could reply, Weasley and Granger turned to face Lavender.

"Well" she said "He didn't invite me"

"But it's _obvious _that we'll be going together" Weasley pleaded "I mean, come on Hermione"

"Actually, isn't it a little bit sexist that he has to be the one to invite me?" Granger lectured "Boys and girls both should have the option to invite whoever they want to the ball. I mean, look at Harry and Malfoy. It is easier because they're both boys, so both of them can do the inviting. But what if they were two girls? How would they know? And anyway, girls should invite boys too. This system is very, very wrong." She then got up.

"What in the name of Merlin's pants are you doing?" Weasley asked

"I'm going to the library" She announced

"For what?"

"To change this ridiculous idea that boys have to be the one who invites the girl. And that boys can only go with girls and vice versa" She replied "Oh, and Ron?"

"What?" He asked, seeming confused

"Do you want to go to the ball with me?"

"I'd love that" He said, grinning. She smiled, kissed him (Draco looked away in disgust) and rushed over to the library.

"It would have been so much easier if she had just invited me to the ball in the 4th year" Weasley said to Potter, but then he smile faded when he looked over at Draco "What is _he _doing here?"

"He was alone at the Slytherin table" Harry shrugged "And he is my boyfriend"

Draco flinched at that word, but Potter didn't seem to notice. He kept eating his omelette like everything was right in the world, but the world _boyfriend _kept echoing through Draco's mind like it was a stone inside his heart, dragging him down.

"Oh, and speaking of boyfriend" Lavender said suddenly. Draco had even forgotten she was there "Have you… done the inviting already?"

"Actually" Potter answered, raising his eyes "No"

"Is that really necessary" Draco started to pledge, but Potter didn't seem like he was going to do something utterly embarrassing like taking his hand while he was on his knees.

"Do you want to go to the ball with me?" Potter asked, winking.

"Thought you'd never ask" Draco answered casually and trying to grin back at Potter. The truth was is that he felt a little bubble of happiness building inside of him when he heard Potter asking him, but that bubble had transfigured itself in that stone again when he reminded himself that it wasn't real. Even if Lavender was now squealing while she gossiped with one of the Patil twins.

As the days went by, everyone seemed to get more and more excited about the Yule Ball. Granger had set up a protest in which she said that girls had the same rights as boys to invite who they wanted to the ball, and that who wanted to go alone should be respected as well. Surprisingly not many people frowned upon her passionate protests and Draco saw a lot of people wearing her "Alone and proud" badges.

"I even thought about going to the ball alone, to inspire empowerment" she told them "But Ron would be terribly upset and I can't let this movement oppress anyone, not even who has got a date already"

Two days before the ball, Draco asked Potter what he would be wearing to the event.

"I think that my old dress robes?" Potter answered.

"What? The ones you wore in the Yule Ball that was… 4 years ago?" Draco asked. He didn't know why he was so shocked by that statement, really, it was Potter after all.

"Yeah, I thought of using _Engorgio _on them and just that" He turned his eyes to Draco and realized his expression "Why are you looking at me like this?"

"You are the Wizarding World's hero and you just have one old set of dress robes? Are you serious?"

"Yeah…"

"Tomorrow we'll be going to Hogsmeade to get you some new robes" Draco said firmly

"Only if you get new ones too, because you looked like a vicar in the last ball" Potter answered

"I've got lots of dress robes, all right?" Draco replied "But I suppose it wouldn't hurt if I got a new one. And besides, those robes were passed on my family through generations. My father insisted that I wore them to honour my family"

"Are you telling me, Draco" Harry said meanly "That you were using _hand-me-down robes?_"

"That's not what I meant"

"Blonde hair," Potter mocked "hand-me-own robes, and a stupid complexion. You must be a Malfoy!"

"Shut up" Draco said, but laughed along with him. He did hate those stupid robes, but his father had insisted. It didn't help either that his date was Pansy Parkinson, who wore a dress that really resembled a cake and that Potter was there, looking so good in green.

He remembered it so vividly that it felt like it was yesterday. Potter with his messy hair, his stupid round glasses but those gorgeous green robes that matched his eyes perfectly. If you looked at his expression, he looked clumsy and out of place, but if you took that away, he had never looked better.

Draco remembered how jealous he felt, that Potter got to be there with his stupidly good looks and his wonderful robes dancing ridiculously in front of everyone and Draco could only watch. He cursed his father for making him wear something so uncomfortable and ridiculous and cursed Pansy too, for wearing such a ridiculous dress.

"Draco" he heard Potter's voice from very far "Are you even listening to me?"

"No" Draco answered "What were you saying?"

"How will we go to Hosgmeade tomorrow? It's not even Saturday" Potter asked.

"Like that ever stopped you" Draco snorted "And you're Harry Potter, they'll let you go anywhere you want"

In the next day, they went to Hogsmeade after their last class. Potter had Herbology and Draco had Potions, and Potter waited for Draco in the classroom's door so they could go to the village.

As soon as he got out of the door, Potter grabbed his hand and smiled cheerfully. They stayed that way until they arrived at the shop. Draco felt so silly because Potter's hand on his somehow felt right. It was stupid, Potter was just pretending but Draco felt so right with Potter's hand with his that he just couldn't feel that bubble of happiness building up inside him once again.

Draco wanted to try everything and wanted Potter to try everything, he loved shopping but Potter apparently just got confused. He kept only choosing red or blue robes, and some of them were really terrible so Draco had to tell him to sit down and just try the clothes that Draco had chosen for him.

Draco ended up choosing some dark red with black robes that made him look even more gorgeous with bright grey eyes, and Potter would wear a set of dark blue robes that made Draco's stomach twist when he saw him trying them on.

After paying for the new robes, Potter insisted that they went to The Three Broomsticks to get a Butterbeer but Draco said stubbornly that he didn't want to.

"No, Potter" He said "I don't want to go there"

"Why not?" Potter asked

"I don't like Butterbeer" He lied

"Come on, it's not that" Potter rolled his eyes "Tell me"

"Just…" Draco answered, his voice small "Madam Rosemerta doesn't like me much"

When what Draco really meant seemed to have struck Potter, he quickly took Draco to somewhere safer, like Honeydukes. They spend the rest of the evening picking funny sweets and laughing at each other. The best thing was that, between Fizzing Whizzbees and Drooble's, it didn't feel like they weren't pretending anything at all.

…

Somehow, the flickering light of the torches that illuminated the Great Hall made Potter's eyes seem greener and his grin brighter. He took Draco's arm nonchalantly and they went to greet some of his friends. Granger was commenting happily about some girls that were going alone and were using her badges, and Weasley didn't take his eyes off her. She was wearing a beautiful light salmon dress and had her hair up beautifully. Her hands rested on Weasley's arm and they didn't have a blotch of ink on them, which was a surprise. Weasley, unlike Potter, had bothered to get some new dress robes and they were bright green, making his hair look even redder.

The feast went like a rapid blur. Potter and him talked during the whole meal, but Potter really seemed to be trying to conceal his nervousness.

"Why are you nervous?" Draco asked him when they were finishing dessert.

"I can't dance for shit" Potter replied

"Well, thankfully for you, I am a splendid dancer" Draco said, taking a bite of his blueberry tart.

"Are you?" Potter raised an eyebrow

"Well… I'm better than you"

"Even a troll is better than me"

"I'm better than a troll, then" Potter beamed at his ice cream as he took a spoonful of it, and they ate quietly until McGonagall announced that it was time for the Champions to dance.

He stood quietly in front of Potter and placed his hand on Potter's waist. Like hell he would ever let Potter conduct him.

"If you are the one conducting" Potter whispered to him "Will you spin me around?"

"Would you like to?" Draco whispered back

"Obviously"

So Draco did that. He spun Potter around and Potter laughed, and they danced terribly because Potter was even worse now that he was laughing. But Draco laughed with him and didn't feel embarrassed at all, because Potter's hand was there, firm and steady, on his shoulder.

When they were finished some people clapped and went to the dance floor, and they took that chance to go to the table where the other Gryffindors were sitting.

Finnigan had a wicked grin on his face and he offered Potter and Draco a bit of punch.

"It's spiked" he winked, and Draco took quick gulps of it. It burned his throat but he didn't mind, really, being in a Yule Ball in a table surrounded by Gryffindors was already bad enough.

After some more cups of the spiked punch, Potter's hand was resting on Draco's leg and Draco kept wondering if that was happening because they were pretending to be boyfriends or if that was something Potter just wanted to do. Potter was weird.

Draco was admiring the ceiling (he had never realized how pretty it was), when Potter pulled his sleeve and mumbled that he wanted to go outside to get some fresh air. All other Gryffindors were now being obnoxious on the dancing floor, even Granger didn't seem to be on her right mind anymore.

They walked quietly towards the door and when Draco felt the cold winter wind on his face his dizziness stopped a bit. But not enough. Suddenly Potter wanted to stop, near some bushes, and Draco felt weird. The world was spinning too fast when he felt Potter's hands gently on his shoulders, like he was about to hug Draco, but he didn't. He pulled Draco closer and it happened so slowly, so delicately, but, a moment after that, there he was. Kissing Draco.

It didn't feel like their pretend kisses at all. Potter's hands had now moved to Draco's face, and Draco responded eagerly to Potter's passion. He didn't know what else he expected, Potter was passionate and rough and gentle and Draco lost his track of thought completely, he let his mind disappear on an infinite sensation of Potter being _there_ and holding him so tight, and kissing him so gently. He suddenly found himself pinned against a wall, Potter's hands had now on his wrist and he was pressing himself against Draco as their tongues met in an ardent battle.

And Potter was there, gentle and crazy, demanding Draco and Draco gave him all that he had, pulling him closer and tighter as his brain repeated endlessly: _Harry, Harry, Harry, Harry, Harry, Harry…_


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter, I don't. I just own a lot of Harry Potter merchandise.

**Warnings: **I don't know what to say here. Probably bad language. And fighting.

**Author's note: **Yes, I took two months to update. Do I have an excuse? Absolutely not. Just got too caught up in life, I guess. But I r_eally _plan to post the next chapter soon! I just hope that you still remember that this story exists.

* * *

**Chapter Five**

* * *

In the next day, Draco got a letter from his mother.

_Dear Draco,_

_I find myself both surprised and glad to know the news! Really, darling, it's so good that you have found someone to love you and take care of you. And of all the people you could have picked, you chose Harry Potter! People are starting to sympathize so much with our family once again that I have been invited to ten different parties only this week!_

_The most important thing, however, is that I recently got a letter from the Ministry saying that your father is bound to be released from Azkaban soon. I don't think that this has no relation with your new relationship with Potter!_

_I even started collecting your Daily Prophet articles. I'm so proud of you!_

_Narcissa_

Draco frowned at the fact that his biggest accomplishment on his mother's eyes was to be dating Harry Potter. He would feel bad about it if their relationship wasn't in the way of actually being real.

When Harry arrived in the Great Hall he shot a dazzling smile at Draco and went towards the Slytherin table to talk to him. But before he could get past the Gryffindor table, Weasley pulled his arm and pointed at something. The Daily Prophet. Draco wondered what had happened to bring such a shocked expression to Harry's eyes and looked over to his own table to see if someone would let him borrow the paper so he could properly look for it.

But he wouldn't have to look for it, because right there, in the first page, was a printed and gigantic picture of Harry and Draco snogging each other rather passionately. He didn't need to read the headline or the article itself to know what it said.

He was still staring shocked at the picture when Harry arrived by his side.

"Draco" he said "who is this letter from?"

"My mother" he answered "I think they'll release my father from Azkaban soon"

"Really?" Harry said "That's… great!" He exclaimed rather unconvincing.

"You don't have to pretend to like my father, Potter" Draco chuckled

"Great, then" Harry beamed "Why are they releasing him?"

"Well" Draco answered "because of this" he gestured towards their picture in the Daily Prophet. When Harry's eyes met the paper and he realized what it meant, they turned cold.

"Oh" he said, his voice sounding a bit weird "Right"

His smile didn't meet his eyes when he said goodbye to Draco and went back to the Gryffindor table. He didn't invite Draco to join him.

In the next few days, he was still acting coldly with Draco. They were still pretending to be dating, Harry would still grab his hand and kiss him and smile at him but he only did that when people were seeing them. When they weren't, he'd ignore Draco completely.

Draco kept trying to catch his eyes, to get a glimpse of something that could explain why Harry was acting like this but he gave up eventually. He went back to his usual quietness. Nobody talked to him there as well, but it wasn't nearly as painful as watching Harry completely ignore him.

After some days, he stopped going to their classroom. Hoping that Harry would be there was drawing all the energy from him and he just couldn't do it, he retreated to the library instead. He wasn't as worried as he used to be about the Triwizard Tournament. There was only one more task to go and it would probably be the labyrinth one. He remembered that, back in the last Tournament, if you had troubles during the task you could shot red sparks with your wand and someone would get you. He figured that he could to that, since he didn't care about winning. So he tried studying about everything, but not ways to win the Tournament. It reminded him of Harry and their classroom, so he settled for reading and reading a great variety of books about everything that he could find. He tried to read and learn as much as he could, just to get his mind out of Harry. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't.

He found Granger in the library once. It was a sunny Saturday, so they were the only people in there. He ignored her at first, but then she dropped a giant book in front of him and he had to turn his eyes to her.

"Yes?" He said, closing the book he had been reading.

"I think we must talk" She replied sharply "May I sit?"

"Be my guest" Draco said, gesturing towards the chair on his side. She nodded and took that seat, calmly.

"So" she exhaled "Harry"

"Harry" Draco muttered. Harry's name felt weird on his mouth, somehow foreign, because even if Draco had started calling him Harry on his mind, he still called him Potter to his face. He half-heartedly hoped that he would start thinking of Harry as "Potter" again, but he had a feeling that there was no going back from this.

"He is miserable" Granger announced "He keeps pacing the common room, he doesn't talk to anyone and I can't figure out _why._ But it was after the Yule Ball…"

"Really" Draco said sarcastically. If only Granger had noticed how Draco had been miserable after the Yule Ball, if only he had friends to worry about him and try to figure out why he was upset.

"Yes" She said "And I notice you're different too. And he is different with you. So, would you mind to tell me what happened in the Yule Ball?"

"Yes, Granger" Draco answered "I would" Like fuck he would tell Granger what had happened. That memory was only _his_, and well, Harry's, but mostly his to keep. He wouldn't let them leak on Granger's crazy cauldron of information.

"But something happened" She argued "And I know that you aren't really dating, Harry told me, so something must have happened"

"What happened" Draco said, grabbing his book and putting it inside his bag. "Is that your friend Harry Potter is a complete dick"

He got up furiously and left as fast as he could so Granger couldn't say another word to him. He couldn't believe it, how did she dare to come to him asking questions? How did she dare to think that it was _Draco's _fault somehow? Because that was surely what she was thinking.

Draco felt drawn out and very tired, he even considered going to bed but he was already the lonely kid. He didn't want to be the lonely kid that slept all day just because he didn't have any friends.

He went to the Quidditch Pitch instead. He had always liked flying, the problem was that he detested losing to Harry even more. In that moment, however, there was no Potter to beat him, only him and his broomstick.

It was stupid, really, how he had turn out to be a Seeker. He always liked the idea of being a Chaser better, but seeing as Slytherin had been needing a Seeker in the Second year and that it was Harry's position, he turned out to be a Seeker. His reflexes weren't as good as Harry's when it came to being a Seeker, but his aim was far better than most Gryffindor Chasers.

He tried scoring the Quaffle from the end of the pitch and didn't miss one, even when he decided to go up high or down below. He had always liked doing it, even if he wasn't properly built for a Chaser, being so thin.

When he got down he felt so much better that he had almost forgotten about Harry. _Almost _because when he looked over at the stands he noticed a familiar figure with a very familiar dark hair.

Shit.

He went towards the dressing rooms, but Potter managed to be faster than him. He popped in front of Draco like he had Apparated or something.

"Draco" he breathed out

"What" Draco replied, trying not to shake too much. And failing miserably at it.

"Hello" Harry said, with a small grin "I wanted to talk to you"

"So talk, Potter" Draco said sharply, letting go of his broomstick because holding it was giving too much away of how much his hands were shaking.

"I" Harry mumbled stupidly "I really don't know what to say"

"That's wonderful, Potter" Draco said, his heart sinking "Now I must go, there are people waiting for me. Or do you want to waste more of my time?"

Harry's eyes studied him carefully. He tried to glare back at him with some kind of anger, but that kind of thing Harry didn't seem to be noticing.

"There aren't" He said suddenly "Any people waiting for you"

"How do you know that, Potter?" Draco squealed

"Because I know you" Potter shrugged

"Oh, do you?" Draco replied angrily "So, tell me, Potter, why aren't any people waiting for me? Tell me!" Draco gave up all together on trying and keeping his composure. Anger was building inside of him and he couldn't think about what Harry would think of him, of what anyone would think. He just didn't care if Harry ripped him apart, because in some way he had already done that. "Tell me, Potter! Because you used to be the one who was waiting for me but _then _you decided that we should start to pretend that we were dating so people would like me better. I didn't want them to like me better. _You _were enough. And then you were _gone_."

He thought Harry was going to punch him. His green eyes were full of an intensity he knew very well, and this intensity generally meant punching.

Instead, Harry hugged him. It was weird and ridiculous because he couldn't keep his tears inside his eyes anymore as he felt Harry's strong arms around him and he couldn't help himself from collapsing completely on his embrace.

"You don't have to cry" Harry mumbled

"I know, shut up" He replied "I feel so stupid"

"So do I" Harry replied "This pretend to date idea was stupid"

"It was" Draco said while Harry's arms loosened around him. Inside, he was screaming that they should _stay there._

"We were better off as friends" Harry shrugged

"Yeah" Draco replied, even though his ribcage felt as though it would explode from how fast his heart was beating, yelling that it was wrong because they shouldn't _pretend._

But he remained quiet.

"Friends?" Harry grinned

"Friends" Draco managed to grin back.

It _was _true that he had feelings for Harry. He couldn't deny it anymore, he couldn't deny how much he had loved the Yule Ball and how much he had loved the way that Harry had kissed him so passionately. He couldn't deny it, he wouldn't deny it, but he still couldn't ignore the fact that he had missed Potter's company more than anything. More than any of those kisses, he had missed their long and stupid conversations in the classroom, the way that they teased each other and the way that Harry smiled at him.

Even if Harry didn't have any feelings for Draco, he still smiled with his whole heart at him. He still made Draco feel safe and at home. He still made Draco feel special.

And maybe that was just how Harry was with his closest friends. Draco never had close friends like Potter did, and maybe that was just how Gryffindors rolled. They were overly nice, touchy and concerned when it came to their friends and it didn't mean anything other than friendship.

"So" Draco decided to bring up later in that same day. They were playing cards "Does that mean that we won't pretend to date anymore?"

"I did that for you" Harry replied, getting a card from the pile. "I mean, there's all that business about your father"

"Yeah" Draco replied under his breath "But you don't have to do it if you don't want to"

"It doesn't hurt" Harry shrugged

"Thanks" Draco replied calmly, looking at his cards. He could tell that Harry was looking curiously at him, but Draco didn't raise his eyes until Harry had already looked away. He wasn't sure of what his eyes would give away if Harry looked at them.

…

Two months later, McGonagall called the champions and their mentors to the Quidditch Pitch. Draco shuddered when looked up, because the maze's walls were so tall that it appeared that they'd simply collapse on their heads. It was massive, and grew in front of them in a way that it seemed as though it was infinite.

Harry flinched when he saw it because it looked exactly like the last one.

Draco thought about pushing Harry against the maze's walls and kissing him until he forgot about everything else. He thought about holding his hand. Then, he thought about how stupid all these thoughts were.

His eyes turned to McGonagall.

"The third task" she said sharply "The three champions will need to find the Triwizard Cup inside the maze, facing a great deal of enchantments and magical beasts. The champion who finds the cup first wins the Triwizard Tournament"

"However" She continued "There is a new rule. The mentors will join the champions in order to assist them and to prevent major issues"

"But what if they turn against us and decide to win the Tournament themselves?" The Durmstrang girl asked

"Only the champions will be able to touch the Triwizard Cup" McGonagall answered "The Cup will be enchanted so the only people who will be able to touch it are the owners of the champion's wands" The Durmstrang stopped eyeing Viktor Krum suspiciously and frowned her eyebrows at McGonagall. She couldn't hold the Professor's glare for much longer, though, and nodded "Very well, then" She said "The task will happen in two weeks. I hope that you'll be ready"

The other champions were about to leave when Harry had an outburst

"Really, Professor? A _maze_? Another one?" He yelled angrily "I mean, one thing is to hold a Tournament knowing that in the last one someone was _killed, _but now repeating the task that ensured that Voldemort returned the last time is just plainly inadmissible"

"Mr Potter" She said tiredly "Don't, for one second, believe that I have agreed to all this"

"But how can't they _see_ what's wrong about this?" Harry argued

"The Minister is trying to make people think that everything has returned to normal" She replied

"But it hasn't"

"No" she said calmly "It hasn't. I just hope that all the security measures I had to take are enough to prevent any disaster from happening"

Harry nodded at her and she left them alone by the maze. He turned around so he could face its green walls and had his back turned to Draco. When Draco looked at Harry and compared him to the maze, he looked so small. He was slightly smaller than Draco but that wasn't what Draco was really thinking about. It was just that Harry had already been through so much and it was so easy to forget that he was just an 18 years old boy.

The sun was about to set and its orange light was shining on Harry's wild hair and the green walls of the maze seemed to have acquired a few new shades of yellow. It was a beautiful scene, but Draco couldn't admire it for a long time because suddenly Harry spoke.

"What if he comes back?" He turned around to look Draco right in the eye "Draco, _what if he comes back?_" His voice faded when he arrived at the end of the sentence, but Draco couldn't stop noticing that it was full of fear.

"He won't" Draco replied, that perspective dawning on him as well "He _can't_"

"But there are too many coincidences. First, someone who didn't put their name in gets chosen for the Triwizard Tournament" He pointed out "Then, the tasks are almost the same. And there is a maze. Just like the last time"

"There is one thing that isn't like the last time, though" Draco said under his breath

"What is it?" Harry asked

"This time" He said "We would be together"

A wide smile met Harry's lips and he got closer to Draco.

"That would be definitely better" he replied, pulling Draco closer in a stupid half hug.

"But if you think about it" Draco said afterwards, awkwardly because he could still feel Harry's hands on his shoulders even if he had had removed them for a long time "If story repeats itself and the Champion who didn't put his name in helps him return I could just… not win"

"That's a brilliant idea" Harry grinned.

When they were heading to the castle, Harry asked Draco if he wanted to come to the Gryffindor common room with him. He had never asked that, and even if Draco always ate with them at the Gryffindor table, the Gryffindor common room was a whole other thing.

"Are you sure?" Draco hesitated

"Yes!" Harry replied cheerfully "We have to talk about this with Ron and Hermione"

Draco was still unsure about it, but trusted that Harry's presence would avoid that he was murdered by Gryffindors. He could get injured, but it was a risk he was willing to take.

"He can't come back" Granger said bossily after they told her about the maze "I mean, if we destroyed all his Horcruxes…"

"Yeah, but I mean… You can't be sure that he only had seven Horcruxes" Ron argued

"Ron's right, Dumbledore only assumed that he would want to split his soul in seven pieces. He could have made more" Harry replied "And he didn't even know that I would be an Horcrux, maybe he made more by accident"

"I've read about Horcruxes" said Granger "Aside from Voldemort, the wizard who managed to make more Horcruxes was Cenric Wigheard. He made five and his soul didn't resist for much time, he perished shortly after making the last one. So, even if Voldemort's soul was more resistant and allowed him to split his soul in eight pieces, I hardly believe that he made more than that. He knew that there were limits to which one's soul can be stretched"

"I don't believe that he thought of himself as someone who had limitations" Draco answered

"Perhaps" she replied "But these limitations do exist and even if he managed to come back I believe he would be too weak, he would die naturally shortly after"

"Still" Said Weasley "Maybe you and Malfoy should try not to win, Harry. Just to prevent it from happening"

The two weeks ahead from the third task passed as though they were two hours, and not weeks. Harry was getting more and more nervous as the time passed, it didn't matter how much Granger assured him that there was no way for Voldemort to be coming back, he still didn't believe her entirely. Draco tried to take Harry's mind out of it with flying and jokes, but Draco himself feared that something might happen. He didn't admit it to Harry, though, because that could make him freak out even more.

When the task day arrived, he was surprised to find his mother waiting for him on the Slytherin table. She smiled kindly at him and hugged him tight, and then asked him about Harry.

"When will you introduce me to your new boyfriend, darling?" She asked

"You have met him already" Draco rolled his eyes

"But those were other times" she replied "And I've never met him as your boyfriend, Draco"

"Fine, fine" Said Draco, and looked over at the Gryffindor table. Harry was there, wearing his usual grin and it didn't take him more than a second to lock eyes with Draco. He pulled his head back, gesturing to Potter that he should come over and there he was. Bright and hesitant smile, glowing green eyes.

"Mr Potter" His mother said, stretching a hand to Harry. Harry took it and shook it, nodding at her "Are you nervous about the task? I suppose not, after all this is the second time you're going in"

"The first time wasn't very pleasant, though" Harry replied, and Draco could see that he was really trying not to be rude.

"Of course, of course" His mother replied distracted "I had forgotten how beautiful the ceiling was"

Draco remembered that that was what his drunken brain had been thinking right before Potter took him outside, at the Yule Ball. Draco shuddered, remembering the way that Harry's lips felt against his own, the way that he made Draco lose his breath.

He took his mother on a tour through the school, but she wasn't very interested in the architecture. She kept pointing at people and asking their names, and when Draco told her the names of the people he knew she started telling him about the family scandals.

"Oh, that poor girl" She shook her head towards a Ravenclaw girl "His father caught her mother cheating on him with a vampire. Can you believe that?"

The day passed faster than he would have liked, and suddenly he heard McGonagall calling all the champions and their mentors to go to the Quidditch Pitch. When he met with Harry he saw that his hands were shaking, and had to resist the urge to hold them.

But he felt a grip on his chest when he looked over at the walls of the maze and realized that he would be going there. He didn't like mazes. He remembered that his father liked to tell him the Minotaur story to scare him off when he was a kid, but he wasn't scared of the bull man. He was scared of the idea of being stuck in a place you could never get away from.

However, the grip on his chest loosened when Harry grabbed his hand strongly before they entered the maze. No matter what happened, at least he would have Harry.


End file.
